Klaus JansonCritiques

this is exactly the glorious little fusion the title implies, and Morrison here is showing early on his extremely solid grasp of the character. I appreciate how relatively grounded the story is, and the moodiness of it all.

This was an intriguing tale about one of Batman's greatest foes: Ra's Al Ghul. Batman makes a deal to help Ra's Al Ghul in exchange for speaking with his dead parents but this is more of a tale of the other daughter Ra's Al Ghul had and why she hates him so. I found it to be a bit overly dramatic, and the Nazi concentration camp stuff to be slightly problematic but overall, I enjoy it.

Whoops, I hadn’t realized when I bought this on discount and started reading it that I’d already read this one! I got about halfway through and thought some things seemed awfully familiar and that I could almost know what was going to happen next. So then I checked on here and found that I had in fact, already read this before haha. But it had clearly been long enough that I didn’t remember all the details and I was already halfway there so I just read it all again. It’s a good one too, so I don’t particularly mind!

This one is kind of a different sort of Batman story to me because instead of some supernatural power turning out to be something based on reality or science, this time it actually was just supernatural. The backstory of the villain is very interesting and immersed into Batman’s own history which was a different perspective as well.

The art is a much older style in this one and not my favorite, but I still enjoy the storyline enough that it doesn’t bother me too much.

The Dennis O'Neil story that concludes the volume is a decent-but-nothing-special story about Gordon's brief career in Chicago before coming to Gotham, but the two Chuck Dixon stories forming the rest of this collection are excellent, gripping crime stories, and warmly recommended to anyone who enjoys the grounded end of the tales set in Gotham City, where Batman is at most a distant background figure and police, criminals and politicians take centre stage.½

2673

3.5⭐️

Slow to get started when Miller is just doing the artwork, but he immediately floors it once he takes over scripting. Klaus Janson is great on art, too, and draws some magnificent shady meetings. Great overall.

Like pretty much all of the comics I've been reading recently, I grabbed this out of a Comixology sale, mostly because I need to finish my advanced coursework in Grant Morrisons Batman. There's a bit of a return to the territory Morrison trod in Arkham Asylum, with architecture and geometry framing a very strange case for Batman. Morrison is much more restrained here than in AA though, and Klaus Janson's art doesn't quite do it for me. Ultimately, just kind of an average Bat-story that makes one wish for the more interesting, weird stuff Morrison has done.

Batman has to stop a madman who will unleash a plague on the city. The thing is this mad guy apparently does not stay dead, and he is killing off the local mob leaders. The mystery becomes a supernatural caper. Gritty art style, a pretty fast paced tale. It was a good read overall.

Grabbed this one from a newly opened branch of my local library as I've been researching Daredevil and Elektra for a personal project. Seeing as this volume includes the first appearance of Elektra and the start of Frank Miller's defining run on the series, I knew I needed to read it.

The only downside to this collection is that it doesn't do a great job of filling in the gaps like many collected comic volumes do. While it starts appropriately enough with Daredevil's appearance in two issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, it takes us too far into the next story arc of that book before jumping uncomfortably back into Daredevil's own. Now I want to know what happens between Spidey and Carrion, but instead I'm thrust back into DD's story. I feel like the Spider-Man issues should have been cut short after DD's appearance or left out entirely, as they don't really affect the rest of the story arc being featured here.

This does, as I stated, include the first appearance of Elektra, the build-up of Daredevil's wild rivalry with Bullseye, and brings the Man Without Fear into the sphere of the Kingpin, up until now a Spider-Man villain, but most notably one of Daredevil's because of what begins in these very issues.

Definitely a worthwhile addition to any collection featuring Ol' Horn-Head, as it begins some of the biggest moments of the hero's career.

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

This volume collects issues #4-18 of Marvel's Star Trek ongoing (#1-3 were collected in the Movie Classics Omnibus), which ran from 1980 to 1982. Following on from the events of The Motion Picture, these comics have two reputations that aren't entirely earned.

The first is that they're terrible. I don't think so. There are some not-great ones, sure, particularly the dumb opening two-parter where the Enterprise is haunted, and it turns out to be some guy's mental projections based on horror films he watched! There are also ones where the Enterprise battles the Loch Ness Monster and gnomes, and one where Kirk thinks he's a pharaoh. I'm not sure what's up with these old horror standbys; they sound like they might be campy fun, but are just boring. But there are some solid Star Trek stories here: a guy is seemingly killed beaming up to the Enterprise but Spock finds the trick; Spock and McCoy are forced to interfere in the development of a primitive society; Janice Rand moves on with her life but ends up in deep trouble beyond the galactic barrier; McCoy struggles to reconcile with his daughter... who's married a Vulcan! Nothing too flashy, and still sometimes goofy, but solid, interesting Star Trek work.

I was particularly struck by the thematic consistency with Motion Picture; there are lots of stories of ancient computers and/or would-be gods. Also I enjoyed the emphasis on elements that later Star Treks ignored; Chief DiFalco becomes a friend of Sulu and Chekov for example, and Janice Rand gets some moments as transporter chief, and the perscan belts are even employed on occasion. The comics do suffer, however, from a bevy of rotating writers and artists. Martin Pasko has a good run as writer, but writes just over half of the issues himself. Dave Cockrum and Klaus Janson do good work (Cockrum drew the Legion, so of course he can do Star Trek), but handle just a third of the issues.

The other oft-claimed thing about this comic is that Marvel had only licensed Motion Picture itself, and this could only use elements of Star Trek that appeared in the film. Supposedly a couple references were snuck in. But once you get reading, I'd say more issues use ideas from the original series (and the cartoon) than don't. There's an Antosian from "Whom Gods Destroy," the disease choriocytosis from "The Pirates of Orion," the galactic barrier from "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Kirk's backstory from "Court Martial," the Klingon stasis weapon from "More Tribbles, More Troubles," recurring characters like Kyle and DeSalle, and so much more! Christopher Bennett has suggested that perhaps "the restriction on Marvel was that they couldn't use storylines from TOS, rather than a blanket ban on concepts from TOS." But in Back Issue! no. 5, writer Mike Barr claims they thought they couldn't even use the Vulcan mind meld until someone was told Spock did one in The Motion Picture (the relevant issue was written before the film was even released!). He doesn't really discuss where all the other references come from.

As per usual for IDW collections of archival material, the paratext leaves something to be desired. The back cover calls these comics "the first-ever original Trek stories for comics," completely missing the existence of a Star Trek comic book published by Gold Key from 1967 to 1979 that lasted for 61 issues!

Middle-aged movie timeline comics aren't the worse.

This book was given to me for free from a Goodreads Giveaway.

I told my nephew that I was expecting a Superman book and a romance novel in the mail. He decided it was worth the risk to open the package for me. Once I got this book back from him, he explained (again) how much cooler Batman is than Superman, and I got to read it :)

I enjoyed this book. As my nephew reminded me, I am inclined to like anything with Superman in it. I'm not sure how I feel about some of what's going on in the story line.

And since it's massive spoilers, I'll leave some space and use a cut tag.











I'm very, very curious as to how the flare/flare out thing is going to develop. Will he learn to control it? Will they explore the implications of Superman being able to become temporarily totally human? It's a development with a lot of potential.

The publication of Superman's Secret Identity thows some definite curve into the mix. I'm not sure I'm really thrilled about it. People are suffering, including Superman, because of Lois' impulsive action, which muddies the tone I prefer for Superman. I'm afraid this foreshadows an ongoing change of tone, which would be a shame. If I wanted to read gritty noir, I'd read Batman.


Never the less, it was a fun read :)

An intersting read for me, who usually doesn't "do" graphic novels.It is generall well-drawn with a few bombastic effects, appropriate to the genre

Yeah, continues to be weird as anything...
9:56 pm 28 October 2016
Gambit (1997) #2 (of 4) - Terry Kavanagh, Howard Mackie, Klaus Janson, Christie Scheele, Richard Starkings
Although oddly compelling. And since it's on MU, I'm willing to finish this up as I'm interested in where this is going.

I wish this didn't get so bizarre, or used its own mythology, rather than depending on a religion that is dominant in this society: it makes it seem weird as it has to conform somewhat or else risk offending people. If it just said 'we're going to tell this story and not worry about it,' it would seem less stiff. While no one directly mentions it, well, it stands out against the stories like Thor that use Norse religion and mythology and create something new, something that melds perfectly with the other stories they're telling.

Anytime Marvel uses a Christian or Jewish mythology as the basis for their stories, it gets ham fisted and weird. Like a goth invited to a debutante ball, where no one wants to mention how out of place she seems, but, y'know... So they try to mesh and it kinda works sometimes, but it doesn't really and it just gets more weird as people pretend it's completely the most natural thing in the world!

Yeah, I really wish these weren't inserted into the Marvel universe, but they like doing bizarre things with the devil and stuff, so, y'know. It's just gonna be goths crashing the yuppie parties until Marvel gets tired of this schtick.
X-Men Marvel Graphic Novel read in 2016½

This is just dragging out now...
5:40 pm 29 October 2016
Gambit (1997) #3 (of 4) - Terry Kavanagh, Howard Mackie, Klaus Janson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Christie Scheele, Richard Starkings
Blargh. This is turning out to be weird and it's just dragging out the story at this point. And it's boring me a little.

Will I finish? Yes. I still want to know what happens to Gambit and the angel, and there's only one more issue left. But if there had been more, I probably won't slog through a fifth issue.
X-Men Marvel Graphic Novel read in 2016

In a dark wood, Superman fights pitch-black attackers. His mysterious informant explains: “I seen guys like this before. One of Hordr’s allies developed the tech. They’re like zombies … corpses that’ve been made into solidified shadow.”
Solidified shadow is a fine metaphor for secrets that both give us strength and make us vulnerable. After Superman knocks the shadowy crap out of the zombie gang his own secret is outed. Drastic repercussions result.
When loved ones learn our secrets we feel understood, accepted, warm and fuzzy … for the moment. Then our solidified shadows take on a mindless, heartless life of their own and, horrified, we witness the unintended consequences.

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

This book collects three four-issue miniseries that feature Commissioner Gordon and/or the Gotham City Police Department; it's a precursor of sorts to Gotham Central, though I am pretty sure that the only main character here who is also a main character there is the ubiquitous Renee Montoya. Each of the stories here has a slightly different focus.

"Gordon's Law" is pretty squarely focused on Commissioner Gordon himself, as he discovers that there's possibly some corruption in the GCPD, which means he can't trust anyone on the force-- and to make things worse, he only wants cops to go after cops, which means he rejects Batman's offer of assistance as well. The story is kinda complicated; there are a lot of characters, and most of them were new to me (if not new to everyone), and though I really like the gritty tone established by Klaus Janson's artwork, he didn't always make it easy to remember who was who. Its biggest weakness is probably that it's one of those stories where tons of "old friends" we've never seen before turn up, and the narrative expects us to be surprised when an "old friend" we've never seen before turns out to not be altogether trustworthy. And that's not the only obvious twist, but there were some good ones as well. Overall, it's an okay tale: some good crime fiction influences, but it doesn't really have anything to say about Gordon, about the GCPD, or about Batman.

"GCPD" is the most like Gotham Central of all the stories here; the commissioner is just a minor part of a sprawling, ensemble tale of various members of the GCPD pursuing various cases. Harvey Bullock struggles with anger management, a new partner, and a serial killer; Renee Montoya goes undercover as a diplomat's wife to help catch an assassin; two cops named Kitch (a trained lawyer) and Cav (a grizzled old vet) track down art thieves and an insurance scam; an administrator named Hendricks tries to figure out who's stealing stationery. As you might imagine, some of these stories are better than others: I always enjoy a Montoya tale, but Chuck Dixon doesn't really make her very unique, and the circumstance she ends up in seems incredibly contrived to say the least. (Do local cops really handle assassination plots against foreign officials? Would there really be no plan for cancelling the operation when it all goes wrong and the diplomat deliberately endangers Montoya's life?) On the other hand, I did enjoy the Harvey Bullock plot. This was my first real exposure to the character (he was retired during Gotham Central), and he gets to do some good old-fashioned investigating that shows off his intelligence as well as his human side, and I liked his contentious relationship with his new partner.

The Kitch/Cav plot had its moments, but some of its beats were very familiar. Is the lawyer-turned-cop who is mocked for his education by the cops and for his slumming it by the lawyers, and flirts with going back to law only to be reminded that lawyers are corrupt, a thing? I am pretty sure I read this exact story last year in Fort Freak. I liked Cav, though. The best character of all, however, was Hendricks: of course a desk officer grimly determined to catch an office supplies thief in the fact of mockery from his colleagues was my fave. The law begins and ends with him! I've previously struggled with Jim Aparo art on stories of the "gritty" type, but to my surprise, he paired really well with Bill Sienkiewicz on inks: Aparo does great figures and great storytelling, but Sienkiewicz's rough inks add the right tone for an urban cop story. Best art in the book.

"Gordon of Gotham" is even less about the GCPD than "Gordon's Law," as it's mostly a present-day Gordon telling Batman about his last year as a Chicago cop, leading into the events of Batman: Year One. As anyone who read my review of that story would know, I love Jim Gordon, and Dennis O'Neil really captures what it is that I like about him. Gordon is just a man trying to do the right thing in a world that will never reward him for it, because it is a world that needs Batman. Gordon argues with his wife (there's a callback to his struggle with domestic violence from Night Cries, another quality Jim Gordon tale), but ends up stopping a diner holdup almost by accident, then decides to go after corruption, but the world itself is corrupt, and he quickly gets in deeply over his head and ends up making choices that violate his moral core... or so he had thought. O'Neil piles on the twists and the action in a compelling way, and I really liked how this set us up for the Gordon of Year One, down to his decision to grow a mustache. The only real weakness is the frame; I wonder why they didn't just do this story in pure flashback.

Gotham Central: Next in sequence »

So I received this book by mistake. I had won a Cyborg comic from DC via Goodreads' giveaways but they accidentally sent me this book. I was actually pretty happy getting this book because it's written by Gene Luen Yang, who is an Asian American. I love supporting my fellow Asians.

I didn't know what to expect from this. The only volume of comics I've read is Squirrel Girl, and needless to say her comics are in a league of her own. For some reason I was expecting this to be super serious like the DC movies are, but thank goodness this wasn't.

I really liked this. It was entertaining and kept me engaged throughout. It felt like I was watching a Superman movie. There was a ton of action and parts of it were funny (although not laugh out loud funny like Squirrel Girl). I also enjoyed seeing Batman and the rest of the Justice League in the first comic. Overall, a great comic collection.

Oh *sigh* What are they doing to my former very very favorite DC comics character this time?

So, Superman is trying to figure out this new Solar Flare power of his. And then he starts getting blackmailed by a company called Hordr (the hoarding of secrets crossed with the uniqueness of Tumblr?) to do things.

Then when Hordr puts Superman in a very bad position Lois Lane does something that will change Superman’s life totally and utterly.

I’m still on the fence about the series itself, but it wasn’t a bad story into and unto itself. It’s just when I compare it to my ideal stories for DC to tell about Superman, these just aren’t it. And, I did very much enjoy the fact that Superman and Lois got to share some page time. We need more of that for sure.

I got this galley through Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment.

I was looking for a book on scripting graphic fiction, and Janson--rightly--focuses on penciling, which is his forte. But he does include a few brief but interesting chapters on narrative structure and page layout that I found useful. His comments on the musical structure of his writing were particularly instructive. Even though some of his "instructional" bits get too bogged down in definition and explanation, with a tendancy toward repetition, if I was an artist looking for an art book, I'd probably have given this at least three stars (as it is, I'd like to give it two and a half, but Goodreads doesn't afford me that option). Still, this turned out to be a good book for beginners, and I'm glad I read it.

For a long time, I've been hearing how great the Frank Miller run on Daredevil was, but I've only just now gotten around to checking it out for myself. Have to say the hype is true! This is a fun but gritty series and it's very evident why it's considered such a classic. As the first volume, I could tell Miller was just getting started, transitioning from the storylines of previous creators to his own. That holds back this volume from getting five stars for me, but it's a nit-pick. In the end, this left me eager to check out the next collection of Miller stories!

With the recent trend of the gritty, realistic Batman, I'd almost forgotten how supernatural the character's stories can get. Batman: Gothic is firmly in this camp, starring a villain who cannot be killed and whose origins might go back more than one lifetime.

Grant Morrison is a writer I like approximately half of the time. He's a real smart guy but, for me, he sometimes becomes a bit indecipherable. Fortunately, while Gothic explores some advanced themes Morrison clearly loves (mythology, religion, the meaning of dreams), it's a pretty straightforward story that didn't leave me scratching my head.

The artwork here works for the most part. The artist Klaus Jansen is at his best in sequences with a lot of movement (there are a couple really good falling scenes in here, believe it or not). Sometimes the characters' faces felt a little off to me, but it's a stylistic quibble.

In the end, I'd say it's a pretty solid tale of the Batman. I wasn't blown away, but I appreciated the intelligent story and it was refreshing to get back into the supernatural side of Batman comics.

This is a rather dark Batman tale with the expected gothic overtones. The artwork by Klaus Janson does reflect the spirit well, but the story does not. The characters are a bit flat and the story a bit predictable.

Although certain liberties are acceptable with superhero stories, this story delves too far into the supernatural and feels out of place with the Batman cannon. It was not a satisfying read.

"Gothic" delivered on what the title promises; it's a gothic story, with a supernatural murderer, a deal with the devil, and a look at Bruce's childhood. Quite fun.